Thursday, September 1, 2016

'Pretty Little Liars' Final Season to Premiere April 2017, Followed by 'Famous In Love' Debut

Pretty Little Liars will end in 2017.

Pretty Little Liars will premiere its final season in April 2017 after seven seasons of the hit original drama series. Freeform announced the news earlier this week via a Facebook live interview with creator and showrunner I. Marlene King and cast members Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale, Shay Mitchell and Sasha Pieterse.

The final season will continue to be filled with homecomings and reunions, bringing back old characters as it has already done in the first half of the season, including Wren Kingston (Julian Morris), Pastor Ted Wilson (Edward Kerr), Jenna Marshall (Tammin Sursok), Paige McCullers (Lindsey Shaw) and Sydney Driscoll (Chloe Bridges). A #PLLWedding for one of the Liars is also in store for the latter half of the season. To conclude the series, the season seven finale will be a two-hour, drama-filled television event.

After its premiere in 2010, the series quickly developed a cult following, which led to groundbreaking social media numbers and a plethora of award nominations and wins. In the social realm, PLL boasts over 14 million followers on Facebook, 3.7 million followers on Twitter and 5.8 million followers on Instagram, ranking as the No. 1 scripted TV show of the season with over 214 million total engagements across Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter. In addition, the series still holds the top six most-tweeted scripted telecasts in cable TV history (Source: ListenFirst through July 2016). Adding to the evidence of the colossal fan following of the series and its cast, Pretty Little Liars has received 36 Teen Choice Awards and four People's Choice Awards.

"Through brilliant storytelling, compelling characters and social media phenomena, Pretty Little Liars paved the way for television shows, writers and cast to interact and engage with audiences on a national and global scale like never before, which led the series to unparalleled success," said Karey Burke, executive vice president, Programming and Development, Freeform.

"It's been an honor to work with such a talented cast and crew over the last seven years. We are a family, and it will be hard to say goodbye to a show that has made such an impact on young audiences and been a mouthpiece for cultural change. I'm excited for fans to finally have all of their questions answered, and I believe they will be satisfied with the wild ride that is our last ten episodes," remarked I. Marlene King. "I am also thrilled to embark on my next endeavor Famous In Love with Bella Thorne and for PLL fans to get wrapped up in Paige's rise to stardom and the pitfalls of Hollywood."

While Pretty Little Liars will be concluding, executive producer I. Marlene King will launch her highly anticipated new series Famous In Love. The one-hour soapy drama that puts the spotlight on the dark side of fame will premiere following the Pretty Little Liars final season premiere in April.

Based on the novel by Rebecca Serle published by Little, Brown and Company, Famous In Love follows ordinary college student Paige (Bella Thorne) as she gets her big break after auditioning for the starring role in a Hollywood blockbuster. She must now navigate her new star-studded life and the highs and lows that come with being the new It Girl in town as well as balancing her college workload.